True Tale of Shipping Terror (and Packaging Obsessions)

Sounds like the title for a new horror film, right? Or perhaps a made-for-TV-movie featured on a certain science fiction TV channel known for really bad plot lines, less than stellar acting, and suspicious special effects? Unfortunately this tale is true. Fortunately is has a happy ending. Hopefully. I do not know if the monster I thought I killed will pop out of the ground in the last shot of the film…

I was accepted to my first juried show and needed to ship my art quilt across the country to the gallery in Poughkeepsie NY. Very nervous about how to ship an art quilt across the country, I consulted with seasoned quilt artists who had participated in many shows. They provided wonderful advice on how to set up an account with a shipping company, how to package and protect my art quilt, and what steps to take to make everything go smoothly.

I set up an account on line with a national shipping company (name removed to protect the innocent…me) and then went in person to the local office of the shipping company a week prior to needing to have it shipped to investigate all shipping procedures and select an appropriate shipping container, which turned out to be a tube.

Then I proceeded to obsessively package up my art quilt (I figured as long as I did that right all would go well):

I created a special fabric label for the quilt with my address and phone number (should it mysteriously fall out of the package during shipping)

I lovingly wrapped it in acid free tissue paper (like one would use to protect a wedding gown)

I inserted into a plastic bag and then double bagged it to combat unexpected olive oil spills (you never know – in the container next to your delicate piece of art is a giant box from Olive Oil R’ Us that accidentally breaks and leaks everywhere in the delivery truck!)

I then most obsessively labeled each end of the tube – one side for “paperwork” and the other “art” (my paperwork to accompany the piece was also meticulously organized).

So with my package obsessively prepared (it may have taken me more time to prepare it for shipping then I spent originally creating the piece), I returned to the national shipping company local office to mail it. The clerk told me to just sign into my account online there and complete my paperwork and bring it up to the desk.

So I got that all done and dropped it off with the clerk who I saw scan it in. The clerk asked if I wanted evidence that it had been scanned in, but the info would all be on my national shipping company account with the tracking number, so I declined getting receipt – I would just check it online later. I realized I never saw what the shipping cost when I set it up online. I asked what the cost of the shipping was and the clerk said to check online with my account with my online receipt for the shipping and the tracking number.

Naturally I forget to do that until after 9:00 pm (when of course my local national shipping office is closed). When I check my account online – THERE WAS NO RECORD OF MY SHIPPING, NO TRACKING NUMBER, NOTHING!!! My shipped art had vanished into the nether regions. Likely to the same place lost socks go – my art quilt doomed to spend eternity with piles of non-matching socks…

I did some quick thinking (which is important in moment of sheer terror) and I check online the credit card I had set up with national shipping account to see a record of the charge – and there were no charges to the credit card account. My panic worsens, as I truly have no way to prove I even shipped the package: no receipt, no tracking number, no credit card charge, etc.

I cannot call the local national shipping office as they are closed, so I call the national 1-800 number and speak to someone who’s is very difficult to understand (after several minutes of automated prompts) but very helpful – he tries to reverse track the package using the shipping address. After several tense minutes on hold, he comes back on the line and informs me that the package is not in the system (gasp) but after a pause he states they have not updated the system and it may not be listed until the morning.

At this point I would rather be chased by some mutant monster from a bad horror movie than facing the realization that my art is lost and there goes my opportunity to be in my first juried show. Finally I realize there is nothing I can do until I talk to the local national shipping office in the am and I reluctantly go to bed.

In morning I talk to the local national shipping office as soon as it opens at 7:30 am. They cannot locate the package info but take my phone number. An hour of sweating later, the clerk calls me and gives me the tracking number – YAY!!! I of course go immediately online to national shipping company package tracking page to check it and voila it is there – now sitting in Troutdale Oregon on its way across the country. However still no record on my national shipping account of this package and no charge to my credit card….

LESSON LEARNED: Never ship anything of value without getting a receipt/tracking number for your shipment. Just like the guileless women in horror films, I was dressed up all fancy and running with my high heels on and never thought to stop and take them off – so I tripped and the monster nearly got me!